


happy late birthday

by xogray



Series: percabeth oneshots [19]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: F/M, Kissing, Post-Tartarus (Percy Jackson), Post-The House of Hades (Heroes of Olympus), bad at tags wbk, first I love you, soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-27
Updated: 2020-08-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:14:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26090965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xogray/pseuds/xogray
Summary: “happy late birthday.”annabeth blinked. “what?”“it’s july 19th. your birthday was a week ago. it passed when we were, uh...” percy trailed off, the words'in tartarus'stuck in his throat.she was silent for a second, thinking about what he had said as if she hadn’t even realized. “oh. you’re right.”- or the one in which percy wishes annabeth happy birthday at a more convenient time
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson
Series: percabeth oneshots [19]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1839274
Comments: 2
Kudos: 153





	happy late birthday

**Author's Note:**

> bad title, i know, leave me alone

percy didn’t know why exactly he felt nervous. but he did. nonetheless, he raised his hand to knock on the door.

“come in,” annabeth’s quiet voice called from inside the room. he turned the knob and pushed the door open, stepping into the room. she was sitting on her bed and smiled softly when she saw him. “hey.”

“hey,” he replied. as he walked towards her, she shifted over to make room for him. percy sat next to her and loosely wrapped an arm around her waist, pressing a kiss to her head.

they had escaped from tartarus yesterday. a part of percy felt like it hadn’t even been real. but judging from the nightmares he had faced last night, it was all too real. the whole day, he had kept trying to keep a hand, or at least an eye, on annabeth. in his nightmare, he had lost her. so today, he felt like he really needed the reassurance that she was here and alive with him.

“you okay?” she asked. he nodded. 

“just wanted to see you,” he told her. then he paused for a second. “sorry. if i’m being clingy or something. just after everything, you know. i feel like i want to keep making sure you’re really here and okay.” his voice was quiet with the confession and her eyes softened.

“you don’t have to be sorry. i’ve been doing the same thing all day. i was considering going to your room too,” she replied. percy chuckled and leaned over to kiss her gently.

“oh,” he said when he pulled away. “happy late birthday.”

annabeth blinked. “what?”

“it’s july 19th. your birthday was a week ago. it passed when we were, uh...” he trailed off, the words _'in tartarus'_ stuck in his throat.

she was silent for a second, thinking about what he had said as if she hadn’t even realized. “oh. you’re right.”

“yeah,” he murmured. a tiny part of him felt a little bad he had no gift for her or anything, but in his defense, he hadn’t had much time to go shopping recently. “i’m sorry i don’t have a gift or anything.”

“stop,” she said instantly, taking his hand. “you’re alive and we’re together. that’s all i could’ve asked for.”

percy turned a bit, took her face in his hands, and kissed her. annabeth’s hands held his wrist as they sat there. percy did his best to wrap his head around the fact that she was here and alive. he felt the way her hands gripped his wrists tightly, he felt her hair tickling his cheek, her knee pressed against his, the soft skin of her cheeks under his hands. he drank her in completely.

too soon, annabeth pulled away. she couldn’t hold her breath as long as he could. at some point, they had shifted to where they were sitting crisscross in front of each other. he dropped his hands, intertwining them with hers in between them. percy rested his forehead against hers as she caught her breath. after a moment, she leaned back just enough to look at him. 

he could spend a lifetime looking at her, taking in every feature and learning everything about her, and he would never get tired of her eyes. the stormy color had intimidated him at first, maybe even scared him a little. but now, physically speaking, it was his favorite thing about her. they still intimidated him a little, especially when she was angry or irritated. but moments like these, where she was happy or calm, the familiar gray was comforting. 

percy leaned in again, this time giving her a chaste, soft kiss. when he pulled back, she gave him a soft smile.

“i love you,” he told her. her smile grew.

“took you long enough to say it back,” she said, kissing him again. his eyebrows furrowed together.

“what?” he asked. she rolled her eyes fondly, her lips still curved upwards.

“i’ve said it, like, three times.”

he blinked. “oh.” in an instant, he could recall the two times he had heard he say the words. in those moments, they had been fighting either people or monsters, so the words had never registered. “wait, three times?”

annabeth’s cheeks turned pink. “uh, yeah,” she said quietly. “i said it when fell into tartarus. i didn’t know if you heard me or not.”

he looked at her in awe. “i thought i imagined that,” he said. “i heard it and i thought i had imagined it, which is why i didn’t say it back.”

she chuckled, leaning forward to kiss him again gently. “it’s okay. you didn’t have to say it, i knew.” she shrugged, giving him a bright smile. 

“oh, you did? what gave it away?”

“hm,” she pretended to think. “i mean thinking about me in the river styx, turning down immortality partially for me, remembering only me when you lost your memory, falling into tartarus with me… i could go on. i thought it was safe to assume.”

percy could tell his cheeks were on fire. “yeah,” he muttered, feeling a little embarrassed. he couldn’t pinpoint exactly why he felt that way, it was no secret that he loved her. “i guess you’re alright.”

annabeth scoffed, giving him another smile that made his heart jump. she pressed her lips to his again. when she pulled away, percy felt dizzy. she looked at him. “i guess you’re alright too.”


End file.
